The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-06-16

sSDAY. JUNE Is, 1887.
GOOD NEWS FOR SETTLERS.
The Peoples Rights Nobly Protected by
Democratic Administration.
The Presidents instructions to Sec
retary Lamar have been obeyed, and
the great indemnity belts of public
land are soon to be thrown open to the
settler. 1t was the attempt to rob
Guilford Miller of his farm that direct
ed the Presidents attention to the ex-
clusion of settlers from these belts.
They had been shut out, not by law,
but by the action of Executive Off
GERS who were anxious to serve the
great land grant corporations. In his
letter concerning the Guilford Miller
case, the President says:
"After lapse of fifteen years this large body
of the public domain is still held in reserve, to
the exclusion of settlers, for the convenience of
a corporate beneficiary of the Government, and
awaiting its selection, though it is entirely GER
tain that much Of this reserved land can never
be honestly claimed by said corporation. Such
q condition of the public lands should no
longer continue. So far as it is the result of
Executive rules and methods, these should be
abandoned"
The Secretary now shows that four
teen land grant railroad companies
have made selections in the indemnity
belts to the full extent of their rights,
and that twenty-five have chosen in
those belts all the land that is subject
to selection. The belts have been
closed to the settler for various terms,
ranging from two years to thirty seven
years. Under the rulings of tie de-
partment no settler can acquire any
rights under any of the general land
laws in any part of the belts so long as
they remain withdrawn by Executive
order. There seems" says the Sec
retary, ''to be no valid reason why
these orders of withdrawal should not be
revoked" They are to be revoked, for
the Secretary's plans for restoring the
belts to the public domain have been
approved by the President.
The action taken by Mr.. Cleveland
in relation to these lands will be re-
garded hereafter as one of the greatest
achievements of his Administration.
For fifteen years broad belts of public
land, covering in the aggregate 10O,-
600, 600 acres or tract equal in extent
to the area of the four Middle States
and the six New England States, have.
by orders of the Interior Department.,
been closed to settlers to serve the con-
venience of powerful corporations and
to enable these corporations to oppress
those who might try to make homes
within the boundaries. These indem-
nifty belts should not be confounded
with the grant belts. In the indem-
nifty belts the corporations have never
had any rights by law except the right
to select comparatively small num-
ber of sections in the grant belts. The
boundaries of the indemnity belts were
specified, not in order that the copora-
tions might control the lands included
by them, but simply to restrict the
area within which they were allowed
to select sections in lieu of those in the
grant belts which had been acquired
by settlers before the passage of the
granting acts.
And yet the Interior Department
was for years SO completely under the
control of these corporations that all
of these indemnity belts-containing
perhaps fifty sections which the cor
porations could never acquire by law
for every one section which they could
lawfully take to make good their losses
in the grant belts-were promptly
withdrawn from settlement by depart
ment officers and have remained closed
until this day. As we have said. this
was not done simply to suit the con-
venience and caprices of these heavily
subsidized corporations. The evidence
shows that it was done for another
purpose rs well. Settlers could not GO
upon these lands and obtain title from
the Government under the Homestead
and Presumption laws, but they did &c
on with the hope of making reasons bic
terms with the corporations, for, al
though the corporations knew that
they could never legally obtain title te
more than a small number of sections
they undertook to exercise control
over the whole area. They had moi
| plCk6u Out bu6lT ScCGlOuS. w hO COuAO
tell where these selections would be
madeP A hoggish corporation would
prefer to pounce upon a settlers inn
proved farm if it could find one. Il
was the efforts of some hundreds o.
farmers living in an indemnity belt
who had been oppressed by one o.
these corporations, that caused the
present Land Commissioner to decide
that Miller was entitled to his farm
and to direct that indemnity selection;
must be made upon vacant land. Blu
before this action had been taken thu
corporations had worked their will
with the unfortunate farmers and hae
exacted payment in many cases fol
land to which they could not give cleal
title. All this jobbery must now cease
The companies must take their lega
share, and in the remainder of thi
great tract of 100, ,OCO, 900 acres the set
tier will be able to secure title from
the Government under the genera
land laws.-N Y. Times.
RANK SPOIL SMEN.
| A Sample of Republican Reform" from
the Empire State.
The Republican party out of powe
Is as virtuous in its professions of de
yotion to Civil-Service reform as tn